Margit Sandemo - The Ice People 14 - The Knight

The night after that, she didn’t want to go to bed; she had tried to stay with her mother, but she had been ordered to leave when Dad arrived. Then she had tiptoed along the corridors, while she could hear that her chambermaid was searching for her and calling her name. Then she had bumped into Uncle Paul, and she had tried to hide, but he had already seen her. He had lured her into the armoury; he said that there was something he wanted to show her. Marina wanted desperately to say no, but her father’s stern parenting weighed on her. You were always to do as the grown-ups told you, and be a nice, good-mannered girl. This had never been difficult before, because she had turned into a frightened child who never dared to say no. So all she could do was to enter the dark armoury.

No, she mustn’t think of the armoury and what happened in there! Think of Mum, who is downstairs in the hall; she is probably having a lovely time.

But deep inside, Marina didn’t think she was.

Poor Mum, who suffered so much pain! And Dad, who was so cruel to her, chastizing her, calling her a cow and a fat pig. Mum, who had been the prettiest lady in the whole world! This was before her face became so strange. Quite recently, Marina had heard her father bark something horrible at Mum: “I thought the King’s personal physician had told you that it was too late? Why cling to a useless hope? Surely it would be better to speed everything up, so that I can also have some joy in life. Lottie can’t wait forever.” Lottie was Miss Kruusedige, who sat looking in the mirror all the time. Marina knew that. Then Mum had said something about Marina in a low voice, and he answered: “I’ll take care of her, trust me.” Marina thought that it sounded so threatening, and she made herself as small as possible, so that they wouldn’t see her. “Don’t you understand that I’m the laughing stock of the entire Court?” Dad had shouted at Mum. “Having such a pig for my wife, who faints over nothing.”

Marina remembered that her mother had wept, although she had tried to conceal her tears. But Dad had heard anyway, which made him even more furious.

Poor Mum. Marina hoped that she was enjoying the ball.

Hildegard had managed to move back to the wall, where there weren’t so many people to look at her. She stood with her back against the wall, so that no one could see the roll of fat around her waist. Her dress squeezed and strained; a cold sweat seized her, and she wished that she could go upstairs and lie down. At the other end of the hall, Jochum was standing in a circle of admiring ladies. Hildegard saw that Kruusedige was there as well. Hildegard felt ashamed, and closed her eyes in complete despair.

“Well, Princess,” a voice said in French. “You seem to be in deep thought?”

She quickly opened her eyes and dropped a humble curtsey. The Queen stood next to her. The pretty, kind Queen Charlotte Amalie.“Come, let’s sit on my sofa for a while.”

Hildegard obeyed gratefully. She knew that the Queen would never mention her illness or Jochum’s string of affairs. These two women shared the same fate. Although King Christian had undoubtedly fulfilled his marital obligation, producing seven children, he also had five children with Sophie Amalie Moth, his long-time mistress. However, just like Hildegard, the Queen was outwardly discreet, never making a scene. The men counted on their wives’ total loyalty, which was why they could behave as they wished.

Apart from any of this, it was wonderful for Hildegard to have somebody to support her and not have to be on show, as if she were in the pillory.

“How is young Marina?” the Queen asked as they sat down.

“She’s well, thank you,” Hildegard replied. “But she’s such a shy girl, that I never know what’s on her mind.”

“Her father has taught her to be seen and not heard,” said the Queen. “I must admit that I think men are too hard on their children, but this was how we were brought up, and it didn’t harm us, did it?”

Really? Hildegard was already thinking back to her own severe childhood, which had seemed an uninterrupted succession of frosty days in the castle halls of her native country. Hadn’t it damaged her? Do this! Don’t do that! Surely it had damaged her?

But she muttered something in agreement.

They chatted a little about this and that at court. Hildegard enquired about the Queens children, which was a topic that they could talk about for a long time.

But as they talked Hildegard’s eyes searched through the hall ...

“Who’s that man over there by the door?” she asked during a pause when she feared that the Queen was about to leave her. “The halberdier with the sad, kind eyes? I seem to have seen him before, but I can’t place him.”

This was a lie but she couldn’t show that she was interested.

“You probably haven’t seen him, Princess Hildegard,” Charlotte Amalie said. “He’s been away from court for a long time. He lost his whole family and he had to manage his estate. Besides, you know how my husband’s reforms have affected the nobility. The old families had gained far too much power, so that most of them have had their privileges taken away ...”

The Queen fell silent and Hildegard didn’t dare to press on. All she could do was wait encouragingly.

She waited while the Queen followed His Majesty with her eyes. He was talking to a hefty, fat man with shining eyes like balls.

To her relief, the Queen resumed the conversation. “That is Count Ruckelberg, one of my husband’s new noblemen. I wouldn’t say that I care for him; he seems rather smooth, don’t you agree, Princess?”

Hildegard agreed.

The Queen continued lightly: “One shouldn’t speak ill of him. His morals are untarnished. Ruckelberg has never been involved in any scandal, his name has never been linked to any woman. All he is interested in are matters of state. An invaluable assistant, so my husband says.”

At length she returned to her point of departure: “But young Tristan Paladin has been allowed to keep his estate, Gabrielshus. Yes, he’s the halberdier you thought you recognized.”

“Yes, of course it’s Tristan Paladin,” Hildegard said, who had never heard his name mentioned before. “I thought I’d seen him somewhere before.”

The young man didn’t look in her direction, and Hildegard didn’t want him to either. She just wanted to remember his warm, compassionate glance. The glance that understood.

Tristan Paladin ... What a name. But it suited him. Hildegard suddenly felt that he couldn’t be called anything else.

The Queen apologized because she had other duties and Hildegard tried to get up and leave. She felt heavy like a hippopotamus ...

“No, do just sit down. You look tired, Princess! Do sit down for as long as you want. Have you had a physician come to examine you?”

“Yes, the court physician examines me regularly ...”

The Queen hesitated and Hildegard understood. She wanted to offer the King’s private physician, but she could not bring herself to say so. Because the court physician was the father of Sophie Amalie Moth, who had even been ennobled as Countess of Samsø. It couldn’t be easy for the Queen to mention the court physician’s name.

Hildegard came to the Queen’s assistance: “I’ll be fine, Your Majesty, but if I may sit here for a little while, I will gratefully accept your offer.”

“Fine, just sit there for as long as you wish,” Charlotte Amalie said. Her smile showed that she knew the two of them were in the same predicament.

Once the Queen had left, Hildegard thought how shoddy everything seemed. The dancing had begun at the other end of the hall, but Jochum was nowhere to be seen. Nor Miss Kruusedige, but this was only to be expected.